


applewood romantic

by feralphoenix



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-08
Updated: 2012-07-08
Packaged: 2017-11-09 10:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/454417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feralphoenix/pseuds/feralphoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not all tin can telephones and pillow forts and signs proclaiming No Boys Allowed, encouraging yourself in the face of a world that's got no use for you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	applewood romantic

**Author's Note:**

> _(this place called absence_ – wherefore art thou)

“I still have Tipo, you know,” Elise says apropos of nothing, setting teacup down against saucer with a decisive clink; “in a chest in my room. I couldn’t—I won’t ever get rid of him, he’ll always be there even if I never take him out. Nothing changes the fact that he was my first friend.”

Leia pauses in sipping to look at her, furrows her brow because it’s pretty difficult to frown and drink tea at the same time. She drains the cup before speaking. “I wouldn’t expect you to, and if anyone starts telling you that you ought to throw him away or something because blah blah growing up, I’ll punch them. You know that, Elise, so why bring it up?”

Elise hesitates, frowns. She’s getting better at interacting with others, at talking, in big awkward stilts like adolescence. Every now and again, though, she’s back to the little girl who chewed carefully on her words as she hid behind her comrades before venturing her thoughts. It’ll take time, but Leia understands that as well as anyone and doesn’t press her.

“Well, it’s just that… that it’s always just the two of us here, having parties, I mean. Jude and Alvin are too busy to even answer our letters most of the time…”

Leia shrugs and holds out her hands, unfolds and refolds her legs on the picnic blanket. “Alvin’s always got stuff to do these days, and Jude’s just being Jude. At least Rowen does keep saying that he’ll come down to see us the next time he gets a chance.”

Elise’s eyes narrow subtly. She stares down into her lap and plays with her teacup. Her pale little fingernails tap out an otherworldly kind of melody on the porcelain.

“It’s—lonely. With just us. So I thought. That maybe I could take Tipo out, and—”

“You can’t,” Leia interrupts. Elise’s voice is very frail, and even though Leia’s not shouting it’s easy to drown her out with just two grave words. “I know it can’t be easy, but—Elise, we know how Boosters work; you can’t use Tipo ever again unless we have to fight to protect ourselves.”

Elise’s eyes narrow even further in a way that makes Leia very sure that Elise knows this and has some other point to make. Since she’s never been good at picking up on subtleties, and Elise knows this too, Leia is content to wait until her friend can manage to spit it out.

It takes a few more minutes, and Elise keeps fidgeting with her cup all the while. “Does it feel like—like sometimes—we’re the only ones getting left out? Of everything that’s—that’s important?”

The words are a spear to the heart, and Leia sucks in her breath, holds it.

“…I think it’s still pretty important that you’re going to school, though. There are things that you can only learn there, and it’s like… even though it’s a little weird for the world to work that way, even though we _saved_ the world, going to school and learning how to talk to people and not be scared of them is something you have to do to make everyone take you seriously. And if they don’t take you seriously you’ll keep getting left out.”

Elise is peeking up at Leia now through the ragged curtain of her pale hair. Leia scratches her head, straightens out her hair band, and crosses her arms.

“And I don’t want to regret staying with my parents either. It’s what felt right. And just like with you and school, there’re things that—I don’t think I can find out about myself anywhere but with them, with everyone from my hometown.

“But I do know what you mean, about feeling left out.”

There’s only them and the sound of the wind for a while, after that. Elise sips her tea; Leia reaches out for the teapot and pours herself a fresh cup. It’s cold by now, but there’s a kick in the leaves even so.

“Ah, jeez,” she proclaims, and launches herself upright. “I tell you what, if they keep acting like this is how things are supposed to be because we’re girls and we’re young—you’re gonna graduate from school and I’m going to jump back into nursing someday and we are going to _show them._

“And until then, if they’re gonna act like big important stuff is no girls allowed, then we’re just not going to let them do anything fun with us. Tea parties are hereby declared to be the sole territory of you and me and Milla!”

Leia flings her arms wide, wide, as if to embrace the entire sky. Elise giggles.

“…Just—the three of us. That’s not so bad.”


End file.
